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Windows 10 S might alarm Valve into boosting SteamOS again

By - | Views: 77,444

You might have heard of Microsoft's latest plans (source) to keep people on their own store, with a locked down Windows 10 S mode to be available on all versions of Windows. This is easily a first step towards Windows 10 S being the first version of Windows that users see.

Windows 10 S is essentially a version of Windows 10 that's locked into the Windows Store with Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps, so you can't really run traditional applications like Steam and so on.

This goes directly back to how Gabe Newell of Valve and plenty of other developers felt about Windows 8. With Newell saying "I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space.". There's also Croteam CTO Alen Ladavac who wasn't too pleased with it either, he's now tweeted about this latest issue from Microsoft to say " 'I told you so' doesn't quite cut it. :P". Ladavac also said in a reply "Think about it - if apps need to be adapted for UWP, it might be wiser to just adapt them for OSX/Linux instead.".

It makes sense too, if Microsoft is determined to make Windows more locked-down over time, that's not really good for anyone. Actually investing into Linux gaming, where you have far more control opens you up to many more opportunities.

Apparently, Windows 10 S can be upgraded to a "normal" version of Windows 10 Home for free, but the problem is that Microsoft has said around 60% don't even bother to do the upgrade keeping them locked into the Windows Store.

I hope Valve is keeping an eye on this, and it should certainly make Linux and SteamOS quite attractive again for them. There's good reasons why Valve has kept SteamOS around and plans like this from Microsoft (even if they fall through) will happen again and again. If Microsoft fail, they will wait a while and try it another way.

How long will it be until you have to pay to upgrade to Windows 10 Home, how long before the Home edition doesn't exist? Many questions—questions which should probably alarm people.

Thanks for the tip kellerkindt. Note: Article intro updated after publishing to better reflect my own point.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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burningserenity Feb 7, 2018
So with Win32 eventually phased out, will WINE be the easiest way to run legacy Windows programs?

With Electron being pushed so much, won't it just be easier to make everything cross platform?

With game streaming services, will any gamer's chosen OS matter anymore?

Finally, what about the Windows Linux subsystem? Can I pay $150 or whatever to have Windows stripped down to just the terminal running OpenSUSE or Ubuntu?

I honestly never can tell with those Microsoft folks.
qptain Nemo Feb 7, 2018
Quoting: burningserenitySo with Win32 eventually phased out, will WINE be the easiest way to run legacy Windows programs?
It's already becoming that. I keep hearing reports of games not running well on latest versions of Windows which I have no trouble running in Wine at all.
BOYSSSSS Feb 7, 2018
I use Outlook.live.com and there's this beta version with different design which I don't like, but all of a sudden the old version which I use started getting buggier and buggier, for instance there are emails that I can't delete (I delete 3 emails but when I go to the Recycle bin they are not there and I go back to the inbox they are there again) and I need to switch to the beta version to delete them, or when I check one email the second email I check doesn't want to scroll and when I try to click on a link I am shown another email as if I wasn't looking at the email but at the inbox. That bug doesn't happen on the beta version.
If Microsoft wants you to use something they will force you to use it one way or the other.
pb Feb 7, 2018
Quoting: qptain Nemo
Quoting: burningserenitySo with Win32 eventually phased out, will WINE be the easiest way to run legacy Windows programs?
It's already becoming that. I keep hearing reports of games not running well on latest versions of Windows which I have no trouble running in Wine at all.

I wouldn't be surprised if CodeWeavers had CrossOver for Windows on their back burner.


Last edited by pb on 7 February 2018 at 6:47 pm UTC
Mohandevir Feb 8, 2018
If you are looking for a proof that Microsoft is buying Valve... Not! :)

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Daniel-Joins-Valve-Driver
Grazen Feb 8, 2018
Quoting: qptain Nemo
Quoting: GrazenHere is a link discussing WCOS:

https://www.windowscentral.com/understanding-windows-core-os-and-polaris

Note that WCOS is not Windows S.
That is hilarious. They're literally selling... Linux. The Linux paradigm. All the best Linux features. (Closed platform bits aside) Brilliant.

That's exactly what I think!
pete910 Feb 9, 2018
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Quoting: Grazen
Quoting: qptain Nemo
Quoting: GrazenHere is a link discussing WCOS:

https://www.windowscentral.com/understanding-windows-core-os-and-polaris

Note that WCOS is not Windows S.
That is hilarious. They're literally selling... Linux. The Linux paradigm. All the best Linux features. (Closed platform bits aside) Brilliant.

That's exactly what I think!

Agreed, To me it looks like MS are going to make a Win distro basically.
BlackBloodRum Feb 9, 2018
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Quoting: pete910Agreed, To me it looks like MS are going to make a Win distro basically.

Drop the NT kernel, insert GNU/Linux kernel, drop the company that owns it (Microsoft), insert Linux Foundation as owners, replace the UI with XFCE, open source it and you got a new user!
appetrosyan Feb 9, 2018
Quoting: julespetrikov
Quoting: webcreatureI disagree! When the propriator of the one OS that is pre-installed on almost every sold gaming ready PC, decides to pre configure this OS to a default that makes Steam incompatible, and when the user has to change that configuration against warnings that tell him this step might be dangerous, then a big percentage of mostly new users will not do that. And that will shrink the user-base potential for Steam, not actual numbers of course.
OR.. people decide to use an alternate OS instead, which I'd like very much of course.. Do you believe in it?

"pre-installed on almost every sold gaming ready PC"

That's the case, they can't do that. That's bad business. That's exactly why Windows 10 S is not the choice for gaming or production, because it's not intended to run all the games and it's not commercialised as one. Same goes for ChromeOS, Android etc. It's much like how people were asking "How the hell SteamOS will replace Windows" in the early days and got the most obvious answer: It's not intended to do that. S Mode itself is not a profitable way of selling gaming ready PCs, since consumer is not always the idiot, but it's a good way of ripping off people.

There's absolutely no possible future in which Microsoft won the gaming industry by such a move. It's just plain dumb. You can't just force an incompatible OS in a market that demands a compatible OS. That won't force people to buy things from their Stores, it will force consumer away from Microsoft and Windows. To Mac and Linux, mainly.

I'm not trying to justify their point here. Just telling people: SteamOS and Windows 10 S or Windows 10 S Mode or whatever stupid thing they could put forward has no relevance at all.

Spoken like someone who knows business. Seriously though, they won't go that route, as they'd be shooting themselves in the foot. And Valve are still not pushing Steam OS, as they're likely waiting for the Wayland Conundrum to finally wear down and get to work.
appetrosyan Feb 9, 2018
Quoting: qptain Nemo
Quoting: appetrosyanWayland is not complete, we still need to do plenty of under-the-hood improvements, before the aggressive marketing will even have a chance. Right now, we'd only make the task even harder.

On one hand I certainly understand the risks you're talking about. I mean, look at Steam Machines. On the other hand, there is the risk of overpreparing and betting too much on one big reveal that is supposed to be perfect and coming way too late or not coming at all. I mean, look at Steam Machines, I bet Valve learned a lot of really useful things from their first attempt that would help them tremendously if they eventually follow up. The whole "release early" philosophy exists for goods reasons. But yeah, Wayland is even conceptually incomplete if you ask me (I consider the "you can't have a DE-agnostic screenshot / screen recording tool because security" approach a serious mistake). So I'd say it's a delicate question and I wouldn't insist on any one answer to it at the moment.

I understand what you mean by overpreparing, but in out particular case this isn't really a risk. Right now, Linux in the minds of the 75% of the Desktop market share is this obscure, hacker only OS, with little to accommodate anything beyond software development. Not advertising just leads to status quo, nothing lost nothing gained.

On the other hand, advertising it right now would be difficult: the average consumer would want to be able to do what they can do on pretty much any other device and right now all of those things are getting a facelift (getting, not got). Advertising now is like inviting people to a recital when you've just started playing an instrument.

We are just transitioning to Wayland: it's not feature complete, only one mainstream DE has workable support, almost no applications work under it and to top it all off, nVidia refuses to support it. And wayland would be huge for gaming. Making mainstream audiences switch now would create a bunch of myths about Linux that we can't easily shake off. It makes sense for Valve to wait until some of the dust has settled, and lay the groundwork in other areas.
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